^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I am waiting for a speech where Awo said the West would secede with the East?

Or are you assuming that Awo would secede just because the Igbos were seceding? Was Awo the leader of the Yoruba people or was he a partner to the Igbos who had frustrated his efforts for years?

i am enjoying the discussion

pls lets keep it clean

adejoro75 nice one. let just discuss without insult

As long as Awo was the second in command in Nigeria during the Biafra War that was purpotedly fought to keep Nigeria as one, how can anyone try to exonerate him from how Nigeria turned out to be today?

Zik, Awo, Enahoro, Ironsi, Gowon, Obasanjo etc are to  blame for what we have today
Ojukwu is 100% blameless on this. He is the only foresighted one among the players.

adejoro75:

Zik, Awo, Enahoro, Ironsi, Gowon, Obasanjo etc are to  blame for what we have today
Ojukwu is 100% blameless on this. He is the only foresighted one among the players.

ojukwu is a coward. he led innocent igbos to a senseless war and had them murdered while he fled like a coward.

coogar:

ojukwu is a coward. he led innocent igbos to a senseless war and had them murdered while he fled like a coward.

You can call him a coward (your prerogative), but he was foresighted in wanting to break away from Nigeria
The same (foresightedness) cannot be said about Zik, Awo, Enahoro, Ironsi, Gowon, Obasanjo who at one time or another, under circumstances that benefited them, worked to keep Nigeria one.

Even Akinrinade who was one of the top generals then has since regretted fighting the war to keep Nigeria one.

Justcash:

Why was the North eager to stick with the East?

Why didn't the North just leave the East to go, instead went through the stress of carving decrees?

Can't the North survive without the East?

Please answer me.

When everyone said they didn't want Nigeria, the East wanted it. Now after everyone had been lumped together, do you think the others would just fold their arms while the East left? It wasn't out of needing the East, it was more the principle of it.

Its like two men following a third to move to another dangerous location after all had sold their properties, quit their jobs, moved their families and the third man saying he wanted to go back because he was tired of the journey. Naturally, the other two would not allow it. The minute the Igbos, through Zik, voted for One Nigeria, they were going to share in its destiny - good or bad.

If you want to solve a problem, always go to the root. Don't just try to fix the surface.

Justcash:

Awolowo had an opportunity to stick to the agreement he had with Ojukwu and Biafra when he was released. He was supposed to pull out with Odudwa republic and make the North have no choice but to stick their asses up North. Instead of doing this, he went back and colluded with the North out of fear to fight against Biafra secession plan.

About an agreement, NO ONE HAS EVER PROVIDED A EVIDENCE TO BACK THIS "AGREEMENT" after GOWON released him from Calabar prison.
Secondly, he had a chat with Ojukwu (evidence:
A senior officer who was right on ground at the January 1966 coup, yet not
> a participant, has given a different account of Nigeria’s first military
> coup and the invasion of Midwest. Lt. Col. Alphonso Animam Keshi (rtd) was
> Brigade Major at the then 1st Brigade in Kaduna when the coup occurred. He
> was directly in charge of the foot soldiers who were used to prosecute the
> coup.
> Keshi spoke to *Daily Sun *at his Onicha Ugbo residence in Delta State
> Excerpts.
> You were Brigade Major in Kaduna when Major Kaduna Nzeogwu and others
> struck. That meant they used your troops.
> *What happened that night?*
> On the eve of the January coup in Kaduna we had officers’ day, a regular
> event where officers played whatever sport they wanted. I played football.
> There was Brigadier Ademulegun – shamelessly and brutally killed in bed with
> his wife – our brigade commander who came on a horse, threw some jokes at me
> about the way I played, and went away. At the end of that day, I went to the
> Mess to have some drinks. I saw some officers in full military gear hanging
> around at the Mess. I wondered what they were doing only to quickly recall
> that there was to be night training that night …
> *A scheduled programme?*
> Yes, but then Nzeogwu, the Commandant of the Nigerian Military Training
> College, Kaduna, where I was Chief Instructor and acting Commandant for
> about two years, 1963 to 1964, sent a signal to the units under our command
> asking them to subscribe troops for the night training. He also asked for a
> section of the armored cars, artillery, a section of guns and an infantry
> company from 3rd battalion at Kawo Barracks, for training without reference
> to the Brigade Commander. He had no right or direct access to the troops in
> the brigade, he being an army headquarters officer, commanding a school
> directly under Army Headquarters. When I saw the signal that he sent to the
> units under the command, I sent a signal to all those units asking them to
> ignore Nzeogwu’s signal.
> *So what happened? *
> Soon after Nzeogwu, who actually was with me at the Royal Military Academy,
> Sandhust, UK, rushed to my office to talk to me. For the first time we spoke
> in our native (Delta Igbo) dialect. I said to him, ‘Nzeogwu, you are a
> senior officer who should know that there are procedures.’ He apologised and
> explained that he forgot. Thinking that he was acting in good faith, I let
> him be and now wrote another signal asking the units to cooperate with him.
> And lo and behold, the night of January 14 into 15, after that sports
> evening, I got a call from the Police Commissioner M.D. Yusuf at about 1.00.
> a.m. Before then, some shooting had taken place in the Ministers’ Quarters
> at the GRA area. He asked me what was going on and I told him some training
> was scheduled by NMTC (training college), but certainly not inside
> residential quarters. I tried to call the Brigade Commander (Ademulegun) but
> there was no answer from his house. Soon after, his deputy, Col. Sodeinde,
> called me and I told him the same thing I told Yusuf. I called him back not
> long after and there was no response. An hour or two later, my house was
> surrounded.
> *
> And you were at home?*
> Yes, I was at home. My batsman Adamu came to tell me some soldiers were
> outside. I told him to tell them I was not in,  Meanwhile, I got dressed and
> took cover somewhere. Woribor was the Lieutenant leading them. They came
> into the house, my room and met my wife who told them the same thing.
> Luckily, they left. I phoned Major (later General) Hassan Usman Katsina,
> Commander of Armoured (Recce) Unit to send me armoured cars for protection.
> He agreed, not knowing he too had been visited and was only playing safe.
> An hour or two later, two officers serving under me namely Captain, later
> General, Jeffrey Ejiga and Captain Simon Anakwe knocked on my window to tell
> me they were gone. I came out and together with the two officers walked to
> brigade headquarters only to find soldiers all over the place, not
> controlled and things were still hazy. It was clear they were not sure what
> was going on. I immediately thought of taking command, to order the troops
> against the rebellion but Captain Kevin Lawson who was commander of the
> Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Unit quickly intervened. Kevin read my
> mind and appealed to me not to do what I had in mind.
> *Would you say the coup was not justified?*
> No coup is justifiable under any guise or reason. Why should an officer who
> has a duty to protect his country be working against same country even to
> the point of turning his gun against his brother officers? What sort of
> bravery is that for a highly trained officer to crawl round defenseless
> people’s beds at night killing them? Even a six-year-old can kill such
> defenseless people with any weapon.
> *But sir there was widespread corruption, at least that was given as basis
> for the coup.*
> That was just deceitful and diversionary. There are mechanisms to check
> corruption and as you know coups have not shown to be capable of solving
> corruption. If anything, coups have produced looters who have always shown
> to be worse than the governments they overthrew. As officers and gentlemen,
> you are trained in the art and tactics of war; to defend your country and
> not to fight it. How can an officer who aspires to the highest rank in the
> army want to become a politician? In fact, I strongly recommend that the
> National Assembly should strengthen the law against coups such that even if
> coup makers succeed, the law should catch up with them after they may have
> left government.
> Coups are treasonable, so I say capital punishment, as enacted by the
> military themselves. Coups make mockery of governance in a nation and reduce
> us to international ridicule. Coup making is only for substandard officers
> who have lost focus, greedy, mindless, over-ambitious and a disgrace to the
> uniform they should be wearing with honour and dignity.
> Let us talk about the invasion of Midwest in 1967. I read an account that
> suggests the complicity of Midwestern Igbo officers in plotting the
> invasion.
> All that is nonsense. Yes, at the time there were about eight officers of
> the rank of Lt. Colonel and above in the 4th Division in Midwest including
> Nwawo, Igboba, Ejoor, Okwechime, Nwajei, Trimnell, Nzefili and myself. All
> of us but Ejoor were Midwestern Igbos.
> *You left out Nzeogwu*
> Nzeogwu was not with us in the 4th Division. He was in detention then. The
> most senior officer Lt. Colonel Conrad Nwawo commanded. To the best of my
> knowledge, not one single officer in the Midwest (Igbo or non Igbo) of the
> rank of Lt Colonel and above had prior knowledge of the invasion of Midwest
> Region. We had several reasons concerning the role we would play in the
> impending war and we made it very clear that we were going to be neutral.
> And we meant it. We were men of honour.
> But there were allegations including that from the then Governor Ejoor, of
> Igbo officers’ complicity
> Ejoor’s claim of perfidy and collusion were absolute nonsense. He only did
> that to defend himself. How could officers so falsely accused such as
> Trimnell and myself decide to escape, soon after the invasion, to Lagos only
> to be imprisoned. How could Igboba have challenged the Biafrans if he was
> involved and was promptly detained by Banjo only to be executed by federal
> troops in Benin prison?
> *So what happened that night of the invasion and afterwards?*
> I was commandant of the Nigerian Army Military Training Depot at Igueben
> (Edo State). The invasion was on the August 9, 1967. My wife’s birthday was
> on the 8th. I left Igueben on that day to my village Onicha Ugbo for the
> celebration. On the morning of the 9th, my Land Rover Command Vehicle that
> was supposed to pick me up did not show up. I got into my personal car, a
> Peugeot 404 and took off towards my station only to notice a soldier with
> the rising sun shoulder flash at Agbor bridge. I was terribly agitated and
> embarrassed as I drove on to notice clusters of people along the road who
> were awe-stricken.
> *
> So what happened next, how did you officers end up in Biafra?*
> In the early days of the occupation of Mid West, most of us officers went
> into hiding,  There were radio announcements urging us to report to the
> Biafran Headquarters in Enugu or face reprisal. We still did not bulge. Like
> I said Igboba was captured when he resisted and locked up in Benin Prison
> where he was later killed.
> When we got to Enugu, we held a meeting with Eastern officers. In an
> argument, we insisted on neutrality. Chude Sokei (Lt. Col) who was my
> colleague in Sandhurst – and we were quite close – reminded me that we
> (Midwesterners) were defeated people. We were instructed never to travel to
> the Midwest without permission from Ojukwu. They cited security reasons.
> When I got to the School of Infantry where I was posted, I met a Major
> there, I think Okonkwo, who was in charge and I simply allowed him to
> continue.
> In fact, when we (Midwestern Igbo Officers) were ‘conscripted’ in Enugu, we
> decided that we were not going to use the Biafran insignia of the rising
> sun. Instead adopted our own which was a palm frond and which I kept to
> until I returned to the Federal side,
> *After the war?*
> No, right in the heat of the war; September or early October 1967, in spite
> of the danger and threat to the lives of senior Igbo officers by Hausas. I
> returned to the Federal side so also did Trimnell and George Kurubo (Lt.
> Colonel) a colleague from the then South East. Kurubo was sent to the Soviet
> Union as Ambassador while I and Lt. Col. Trimnell were sent to prison in
> what they termed ‘protective custody.’ I was kept there till the war ended.
> While in detention my family, and am sure Trimnell’s too, got 25 percent of
> my salary. I was told that if after the war nothing was found against me the
> balance would be paid.
> *Did they keep to that?*
> After the war even though nothing was found against me, I and Trimnell were
> retired and retirement backdated to May 1967 when the war started. It was
> Danjuma (General) who was my second-in-command in 1962, that reversed it to
> the actual date of 1971, in 1979 when he was Chief of Army Staff.
> *In a nutshell how would you place that war, justified?*
> No officer worth his salt would go into a war he cannot win, apart from the
> fact that the remote cause of the war was faulted in the first place. Biafra
> had no capacity to win that war,  That apart, if you recall events that
> preceded the war, there were these senseless killings of very fine and
> professional officers in the mould of Ademulegun, Maimalari, Kur Mohammed,
> Ralph Sodeinde, Abogo Largema, Pam, Unegbe and so on. These were officers
> who made us. You are not just a good officer because you performed well in
> Sandhurst, Staff College, etc. It also depended on those you worked with and
> understudied. These were incorruptible men who did their jobs selflessly. It
> was these killings plus those of mainly northern politicians that triggered
> the pogrom in the North and then the war.
> You seem to have had a brilliant career in the Army within a short period.
> *What were the high points?*
> There were several, but I remember that in 1962 in the Captain-to-Major
> promotion exam taken by 36 people, only 12 of us passed and I was first. In
> Sandhurst, I was the only senior cadet who was appointed Cadet Sergeant of
> all African cadets. It was like prefectship. I was in the same set with
> Afrifa, Akufo (Ghanaian Generals) alongside other non African cadets.
> I made a name as Chief Instructor at the Military College, Kaduna where I
> trained people like (Generals) Jemibewon, Akinrinade, Buhari, Dimuje and so
> on. I had nobody instructing me on what to do. I designed the courses,
> decided on the scopes, contents and weighting attached to each subject to be
> thought. The nominal Commandant of the school then was a Briton whom I never
> saw for one day. He never visited the school and I handled everything. I
> made a good name as an instructor in the army. I was right on course.
> *All these inform why you insist on core professionalism for the military?
> *
> I say again that no officer who imbibed the kind of training and
> orientation we had would be political. For instance after the killing of
> officers (January, 1966), I was appointed Principal Staff Officer to Gowon
> who was Chief of Army Staff. But I wrote to point out I was too senior for
> the job. Before then in 1962, I had been invited by President Zik (Nnamdi
> Azikiwe) to be his Aide-de-Camp which I also politely declined because I
> wanted to remain in core military posts. Again in 1966, at a meeting of the
> Nigerian Army Council presided over by the late Brigadier Ogundipe, I
> complained about corruption in the Police Force.
> Next he asked me if I wanted to take over the Police and I promptly
> declined. In 1963 at the Staff College Exam, I also came first and was the
> only officer sent to the US Army Command and Staff College Leavenworth. I
> was the first Nigerian officer to do a whole year’s course there.
> *What was your last position in the Army before you moved to Midwest?*
> I was Quartermaster General. I took over from Colonel Unegbe who was killed
> in the January coup. The position has now been renamed Chief of Logistics
> and reserved for Generals. )http://groups.google.com/group/usaafricadialogue/msg/f8721d16cd54b2d2?pli=1

The above was the discussion Awolowo and Ojukwu had. If you are honest, you will sense ARROGANCE AND NAIVETY on the part of Ojukwu.
Take note about what Awolowo told Ojukwu concerning the occupation of the West by the Northern army . . .

Justcash:

The march towards the west happened after the war had begun and Awolowo was already an enemy of Biafra.

NO! That was not the case. Ojukwu had not yet considered the West as an Enemy. Evidence:::


LETTER FROM LT.COL. OJUKWU TO LT. COL.BANJO

22nd AUGUST 1967



From: The Military Governor,

Republic of Biafra Enugu,



22nd August, 1967.



My dear Victor,



1. For some time now, you and I have been discussing the circumstances that have led to the current and inevitable disintegration of what was the Federation of Nigeria. We have been fully convinced that the aim of the Hausa/Fulani complex has ever been, and will ever remain, the total domination of every other part of what was known as the Federation of Nigeria. It is impossible to forget that the crisis which led to the army take over in January 1966, the coup of the Northern soldiers led by Gowon in July 1966, the wholesale and indiscriminate massacre of the people of what is now Biafra- and, to a less degree, the people of the Mid-West and West, including the Yorubas, were all the direct result of Hausa/Fulani attempt to subjugate and use as tools, the gallant people of Western Nigeria namely the Yorubas. We do not need to remind ourselves of the heavy losses in life and property suffered by the Yoruba people in their fight for justice and freedom during 1965.



2. Sharing.our belief that the people of Yorubaland have a right to live a life of equality and self-respect and justice free of domination and dictatorship from any quarter, you have both identified with the cause of the Biafra struggle for survival and expressed your determination to see the people of Yorubaland freed from Hausa/Fulani domination.

We, the people of Biafra, for our part are willing and have decided to give you and the people of Yorubaland every assistance to achieve your aim.



3. After clearing the whole question with my Executive Council, I, as the Commander in Chief of the Biafran Armed Forces, have decided to place at your disposal Biafran forces, for the liberation of

Yorubaland on the following clear conditions:-



(i) You will have nothing to do with the Military Administrator in the Mid-West Territory during your sojourn there prior to your move to the West.

(ii) The willingness and preparedness of Biafra to assist any part of the former Federation of Nigeria wishing and willing to liberate itself from the Hausa/Fulani domination, does not in anyway whatever

imply any inclination on her part to compromise her sovereignty or preserve what remains of the defunct Federation of Nigeria. In other words, our sovereignty and break with Nigeria is irrevocable. Nothing must, therefore be said or done by you or any member of the Liberation Army to give a contrary impression.

(iii)  Biafra is determined to maintain and safeguard her sovereignty and ensure that her integrity and safety are never again threatened.

(iv) Biafran troops will, after the liberation of the Yorubaland, remain in that territory only for as long as we in Biafra consider it necessary for the Yorubas to consolidate their position and sovereignty against any external threat.

(v) On the liberation of the Yorubaland, you will be appointed as the Military Governor of that territory.

(vi) The liberation of Western Nigeria will be a prelude to the liberation of all Yorubas up to the River Niger and the severance of all connections between the West and the North at Jebba.

(vii) During the period of Biafrans troops’ presence in your territory, all political measures, statements or decrees shall be subject to the approval, in writing by myself or on my authority.

(viii) Should our troops arrive and liberate Lagos, the government of the Republic of Biafra reserves the right to appoint a Military administrator for the territory. Such an Administrator  will remain in office until a merger of that territory with Yorubaland is effected by Biafran troops.

(ix) As soon as possible after your appointment as the Military Governor of Western Nigeria and separation of that territory from Nigeria, you and I must meet to discuss:

(a)     the duration of stay of Biafran troops in your territory;

(b)     the areas and subjects of cooperation between the liberated sovereign states of Western Nigeria, or by what name it may call itself, and Biafra.



4. I do not need to remind you that Biafra regards all Yoruba as friends. As such everything should be done, to ensure the minimum force and loss of life are involved in achieving the objective of liberation.



5. It is essential, in order to avoid misunderstanding or confusion, that all subsequent requests for support be formally made to me by you in writing.



6. Will you please signify in writing, your acceptance of the above conditions so that you may leave for Western Nigeria and lead the army of liberation.





Yours very sincerely,



signed  Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu,



Military Governor and Commander in Chief of Biafran Armed Forces.
http://www.dawodu.com/biafra1.htm

Justcash:

Awolowo's fear of fighting Northerners made him to decide not to leave. All he could have done was to fight them with the support of Biafra to ensure that Oduduwa was set free. For God's sake, Lagos had the weapons and amoury.

Wrong again! Evidence:: Read the interaction between Ojukwu and Awolowo posted above. The West were not cowards but were defenseless and if Biafran army had occupied the west to "liberate" them, the West would have been under Ojukwu until he deemed necessary to let them go (Evidence: read Ojukwus letter to the West posted above)

Justcash:

Nnamdi Azikiwe was a nationalist, who unfortunately was a[b]s short sighted as his peers i.e. Awolowo and co[/b]. He wanted a united Nigeria. It annoys me anytime people use Azikiwe to represent the wishes and interest of Igbos. Azikiwe never represented the interest of Igbos (His ethnic group) for once. He was more after Nigeria than his ethnic group, which ironically was his undoing. This is also the reason why he is being mocked. If he was concerned about his ethnic group, he would have held the interest of Igbos at heart. He never did. Awolowo and Bello/Balewa represented the interest of their own ethnic groups.

@ bolded
You have not provided any evidence to back your claim . . .

Justcash:

Let me analyze the situation for you. The best time that the unity of Nigeria would have been cemented was in the 60s, after the independence. This was completely shattered by Awo and Balewa's ethnic concerns and aim to ensure the interest of their ethnic groups over other ethnic groups. As a matter of fact, their selfish ethnic plans destroyed any chances of Nigerians having trust for themselves, co-existing peacefully and leaving together as true Nigerians.

NO. Nigeria was not made or create to work because the amalgamation was done to feed the less lucrative North by the rich southerners. It was done to relieve the British tax payer not because they had Nigeria at heart. THERE COUNTRY IN THIS WORLD WHERE YOU WILL HAVE THREE MAJOR ETHNIC GROUPS WITHOUT A FORM OF NEO-COLONIASATION. Even the madarins are colonising the cantonise in Chain. But that is JUST 2 major groups . . . . How much more Nigeria with three
Basically, none of the three wanted their culture to erased or influenced by foreigners (the other 2).

Justcash:

Azikiwe was the only one blindly and stoopidly canvassing for a united Nigeria. By the time he became awake, the damage had been seriously done by Awo and co.

Again, Awolowo and Bello NEVER FOR ONCE IN THEIR LIVES CANVASSED FOR ONE NIGERIA.

Justcash:

The political orientation of Azikiwe influenced the Igbos in the 1960s to believe more in one Nigeria than in their ethnic group. Igbos spread fast across the country than any other ethnic group. Instead of this being seen as a welcome development, it bred suspicion, hatred and jealousy in the North and West which was also influenced by the ethnic politics orientation of Awo and Balewa. It did not take long for the hatred to be exhibited in the form of the pogrom against Igbos for the first military coup. That was when it dawned on Igbos that Nigeria is not united and will never be united. Igbos decided to secede, the same North and West fought tooth and nail to hold them back.

The West were NEVER suspicious of the Igbo. The North were and rightfully, because, a leader's JOB is to look out for the interest of the people he REPRESENTS (not others). His people were jobless in their own land, so what did you expect?? A handshake and flowers Even the Whites in America and Britain complain because all the jobs are taken away by "foreigners" (remember, we were operating a regional style of government).

The West never wanted the OUTSIDERS to influence their politics. Thats all!!! The same thing is still done today by the West. They never accepted OBJ as their leader even though, the East and North (especially the North) wanted him.

Justcash:

My question now is, since the North and West carried out the pogrom and believed in the non-existence of one Nigeria, why didn't they allow the Igbos to secede? Why wasn't the war seen as an opportunity to break the country? Why did they have to stay 50 years to understand that Nigeria is not meant to be one?
The slogan after the war was, "Nigeria must be one" or "One Nigeria". Why then is the North looking for a way to escape out of Nigeria in the form of Boko Haram?  Why are westerners so happy to have ACN as a regional ethnic party than a national party?  

You cannot be having YOUR will all the time. The West and the North are not animals that YOU can just say stay here and they will or go there and they will. You cannot have your way all the time. You cannot say because Nigeria does not suit your style anymore (because to the West and North, it is the Igbos that wanted Nigeria and FORCED THEM IN NIGERIA), we should break off. Things don't work that way. Not until we are all unsatisfied with Nigeria, Nigeria will remain ONE!!!
NO, the North formed Boko harem  to remain politically relevant after GEJ's victory. The same can be said for MEND and the SS, MEND AND BOKO HAREM are organisations formed to help regions remain politically relevant.

The West was happy because they NEVER wanted to be in Nigeria. Now that they have their region and people back, they are happy as long as they determine their developmental and political destiny as stated previous by me.

Justcash:

We have not achieved any meaninful development for 50 years as a country. We have been left behind by our peers. This was all caused by the ethnic strife, which had it's genesis from the non nationalistic stance of Awo and Balewa, unlike Azikiwe. Even when they had the chance to achieve their aim of getting a heck out of the union, they shouted "One Nigeria", yet remained in suspicion against one another.

NOPE!
We were developing because we had regional governments in the early 60's. It was Ironsi that made a unitary government and as far as the West and the North are concerned, it was the Igbos that wanted this (talking from their respective point of views, that is.). You cannot be changing this as you like on impulse. This two are not used to that sort of governmental style.
So basically, it was the unitary style of government that ruined Nigeria not the West or North. After all, the North and West were contented with their groundnut pyramids and cocoa respectively.

Justcash:

Awo and his northern chronies are to blame. I will say it from today till eternity. They destroyed Nigeria.

No, because I have already proved you wrong

Katsumoto:



Why not mention Ojukwu as well who preferred to go war after he got 90% (Gowon's decree of what he wanted at Aburi and wasn't prepared for war?

Thanks for clarifying this. I believe Ojukwu played a major role in Nigeria's destruction, Nigeria would have been a much better place if Ojukwu had decided to stick with the Aburi agreement. But he was too selfish and unwise to look beyond his personal interests and in the process, he destabilized the future of his tribe and the country. Ojukwu is a coward

Katsumoto:

When everyone said they didn't want Nigeria, the East wanted. Now after everyone had been lumped together, do you think the others would just fold their arms while the East? It wasn't out of needing the East, it was more the principle of it.

Its like two men following a third to move to another dangerous location after all had sold their properties, quit their jobs, moved their families and the third man saying he wanted to go back because he was tired of the journey. Naturally, the other two would not allow it. The minute the Igbos, through Zik, voted for One Nigeria, they were going to share in its destiny - good or bad.

If you want to solve a problem, always go to the root. Don't just try to fix the surface.

[b]Who forced the North and West to follow the East, going by your analogy. How could  the wish of Zik alone have defeated the opposition of Awolowo and Balewa? You mean Zik charmed them or what? Did he bully them.

Ok, let us assume that Zik bullied Awo and Balewa into agreeing to exist in one country, why then was it so difficult for Awo and Balewa to actualize their wishes of going towards their own paths when it was obvious that Zik's path was too dangerous and in fact futile? Instead, they preferred to continue to move on that same path without plans of moving to a safer and more progressive path. We are seeing the result today in the North and West.

So, if among the three travellers, one of them saw that the journey was actually leading them nowhere, and decides to go back home, the other two should force him to continue to march with them to nowhere, because they have sold their properties? Now, after marching for 50 years to nowhere, one of the men that forced the man to stay also wants out. No be Ogun go strike una?

In fact, that is not a good answer to my question.

WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES THE NORTH TO TREMBLE EACH TIME THEY HEAR THAT THE EAST WANTS TO LEAVE?[/b]

jason123:

@ OP
If we follow history, I think you are blaming the wrong people. I blame Azikwe. Why? Because the so called Awolowo NEVER wanted the North to be part of the union but Azikwe wanted them to be. Even the North NEVER wanted this union but Azikwe did.
You cannot just go to the Coup and the war without going through the events that lead to the coup, war and today's situation. What you did lacks objectivity.
Even Awolowo warned Ojukwu and told him to present his delegates and the West will support him but Ojukwu was arrogant and dismissed it. Even the so called Biafra failed, not because of Awolowo but because of its disregard for the minorities in the Eastern region and the invasion of the MW. The so called Starvation could not have been done by Awolowo as some people want us to believe. It was done by the Eastern minorities who where coastal.

Ojukwu never tried negotiating with his neighbours. He simply invaded and killed all oppositions. He NEVER for ONCE, tried to negotiate with the MW and the West. He simply brought Banjo to invade them. Note: NO NEGOTIATION!!!

The people you blamed NEVER wanted Nigeria. But since it was formed and they (North) saw the benefits, they now want Nigeria by force. As for Awolowo, he simply did what was best for his people, after all, "Nigeria is a mere geographical expression".

Thanks for saying the truth.

This is a very provocative thread. Why didn't I think of this? 

And I knew Katsumoto would be in this thread. This is when he comes alive.

Justcash, you should have added Ironsi and Azikiwe.

It's true that Zik had a PanAfricanist view of Nigeria more in line with his US education. Some of those views were that small tiny African countries like Cameroon, Togo, Senegal, Gambia, Mali really didn't have any business being a country of their own compared to huge 'elephant sized' countries of the US, USSR, and China. These small countries, some of which are even smaller that the smallest states in the US had been created by Europeans to make it inpossible for the continent to grow and defend itself from foreign aggressors like the Europeans, and now the Chinese.

So any chance to make Nigeria an even smaller country was against his Africanist view. Everybody can read their own meaning into why Zik was such a nationalistic figure, but my own research points to his aspiration to bring all Nigerians togather first, and then all Africans later.

The future will tell which of our founding fathers had the best vision for his people, but from contemporary events, it seems the results of Zik's views are mixed. Huge China and India have been able to rise to near supper power status, primarily because of their size, while the former USSR disintegrated, because you can't forcibly hold a union together forever.

Zik was not tribalist because he gave a speech praising an eastern football club in Lagos, it was just sports, and that didn't mean you shouldn't support a home team. I never heard of a politician being accused of tribalism because of his euphoric support for a home team except here on N/L.

@JUSTCASH, I apologise for posting the wrong link in my first paragraph. This was the actual discussion AWOLOWO AND OJUKWU HAD!!!


Here is the true account of what took place as taken from scripts of the discussion between Papa and Chief Ojukwu (the Ikemba). The discussion was taped by the Ikemba and the recorder was captured after Enugu fell.

On Saturday, May 6, 1967, at 5.15 pm, a meeting began to take place, at the State House, Enugu, between the then Excellency, Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu (the Ikemba) and a delegation of the National Conciliation Committee (Committee) led by the most Honorable Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The Committee was represented by Professor Samuel Aluko, Chief Mariere, Chief J.I. Onyia, while the Eastern Region was represented by Lt. Col Imo, Lt. Col Effiong, Lt. Col. Kurubo, Mr. C.O Mojekwu, Mr. N.U. Akpan, Professor Eni Njoku, Dr. Nwakanma Okoro, Dr. P.N.C. Okigbo, Mr. C.A. Onyegbale and Mr. Ndem with the Ikemba presiding over the meeting. The names are listed for the purpose of verification of facts presented herein below with those of them who may still be alive,

Papa: The main concern of these delegates is to ensure that Nigeria does not disintegrate, and I would like to see Nigeria bound together by any bond because it is better than breaking the whole place up because each unit will be the loser for it. Th[b]e economy of the country is so integrated that it is too late in the day to try and sever them without risking the death of one or both of them. So we have come, therefore, to appeal to you to let Eastern representatives attend the meeting of the Committee (ON-GOING NATIONAL CONCILIATION MEETING) I do not want to put myself in a position where I will be treated as an advocate of the Eastern cause. Let the Eastern delegates go there, make their case and then as a member of the Committee I will get up and say I support this entirely. If at the meeting the East and West present what they want for a new Nigeria whether temporarily or permanently, and the North says "no, we are not going to have it", I will go out and address a World Press Conference and send our case to that body and say this is what we have done and the North has turned it down.[/b] I will then take any step that is necessary to bring into effect what we want. The North needed to be in a position of being presented with the United front of the South.

Ikemba: I started off this struggle in July with 120 rifles to defend the entirety of the East. I took my stand knowing fully well that by doing so, whilst carving my name in history, I was signing also my death warrant. But I took it because I believe that this stand is vital to the survival of the South. I appealed for settlement quietly because I understood that this was a unclothed struggle for power and that the only time we can sit down and decide the future of Nigeria on basis of equality will always be equality of arms[b]. Quietly, I built up. If you do not know it, I am proud, and my officers are proud, that here in the East we possess the biggest army in Black Africa.[/b] I am no longer speaking as an underdog, I am speaking from a position of power. [SEE NOTE 3a] The only way for the South to present a united front is for the South to meet and hammer out that united front. It is a point which must be cleared first before proceeding to make a statement of whatever it is. That is why to my mind, at the present stage of the crisis the ideal thing is for the Southern people to meet in any platform and discuss and hammer out any difference they might have because I will have nothing to do with the North. Then going further, it would then mean that to do this the South to meet; because if we wait for their permission, we will wait for ever. On the specific question of whether there is a possibility of contract with the North, the answer is at the battle field.

Papa: I do appreciate the points you have made, especially the suggestion the South could take the bull by the horns, convene a meeting of its leaders and work out its salvation. Well, I must say that a number of factors have been overlooked in this regard. I would be quite willing to attend any meeting convened by the leaders of the South in the South, but it must be realized that we in the West are in a very difficult position. All the members of the bodyguard of the Military Governor of the Western Region were Northerners; there were over 36,000 soldiers in the whole of the West, most of whom were Northerners, and all of them carry arms,  I led a delegation to Lt. Col. Gowon on the 7th and at that interview I made it clear on behalf of the West that if the soldiers of Northern origin were not removed from the West we would not attend any further meetings of the Ad Hoc Committee. He said he would do something, of course he did not. We passed our resolution (THAT THE NORTHERN SOLDIERS SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM THE WEST) and Col. Adebayo did very well and give us certain Yoruba officers with whom to go and deliver the petition to Lt. Col. Gowon. I did give him an ultimatum up to the 15th of May to remove these Northern soldiers from the West. Of course, he agreed to remove them by the 31st of May but the time we returned to Ibadan Northern soldiers had taken up arms and wanted to kill me, to kill Adebayo and all others,  Just now Adebayo does not sleep in his house. Somebody told me that he has not been sleeping in his house. I know why they put two policemen with two rifles in front of my house the other day. Of course, I rang up and said I wanted them removed. There were policemen in front of Sardauna's house but they did not save him. The populace, of course, turned against the Northern soldiers. I don't know why Adebayo should issue the release that soldiers should not be taunted. But this is the way we have been doing our quiet fighting. You are remote from the West; you have advantages which we do not possess. We cannot rush without rushing to our death at the same time. We are not cowards in the West but we have to move cautiously, because if we do not do that you might not have us alive; you would only have monuments all over the place. And I may say in this connection of Southern solidarity -- I am sorry to go into what has happened in the past -- in 1953 there was an understanding between the banned NCNC and the banned Action Group; we entered into an agreement, which I hope we will use sometime, to the effect that if the North remained intransigent we would declare a Southern Dominion. This was signed by myself and Zik and I still stand by it; but we prefer that you should send your delegates to this meeting, so that we should, known to everyone, enter into negotiations among ourselves and present a common front to the North. Then nobody can accuse us of conspiracy or trying to divide the country into two parts. I want you to look at it from our point of view. If there were no Northern soldiers in the West the position would be different. And even if by the time I return home the Northern soldiers have gone I still do not want to be accused of perfidy. The issue at hand is not enough for us to say that we do not like the North. That is a negative approach. I think a positive approach will be for us to meet. Unity will last only if it is based on common understanding among us and the basis will start at this meeting. As I said before, I want you to give me a chance of meeting your people regularly. Let us reolve our differences and get what we want and quickly too.

Ikemba: If the reason is to get a platform for a meeting between the Southern leaders, I agree very much that we should try and find a platform and here we seem to be presented with a fait accompli. The Southern leaders are here now, so the main thing is to go on and discuss.

Papa: It will be something near fraud for us to sit down here and discuss in terms of the South especially as this delegation was sent here by a body consisting of the Northern delegation,

Ikemba: Now coming to the wider question of the East attending, if it is a Reconciliation COmmittee then it must be reconciling warring parties. A Reconciliation Committee can not have the parties within, somehow, it does not work, unless, of course, they have already agreed on the major issues, because reconciliation is to stay in the middle of the warring parties. And one thing is so clear in the Nigerian situation: certainly the North and the East are warring. For any Reconciliation Committee to do justice to the East, it should not have Easterners and Northerners in it. That is one point. How does the Reconciliation Committee expect us to go to Lagos ? Can you, Sir, imagine Sir Kashim Ibrahim coming to the East to meet and discuss ? The critical point of the Eastern stand is that the East cannot go to any place where there are Northern troops. That tells his own story. The North has made it abundantly clear that no association if they are not controlling the central machinery, is acceptable to them. Even in the face of the resolutions of the South, the Emirs, feudalist Emirs, had the audacity to dictate to the South; first that they will not allow the Northern troops to leave the West until they are satisfied that the West has got sufficient troops.

Papa: You have talked about Easterners and Northerners trying to go to the same meeting and bringing about reconciliation because they are the two warring parties. I do not think the fight is between the East and the North alone. It affects all other parts of the country save that there is no quarrel between the East and the West and Mid-West. The fight involves all of us. The West at this moment, has its own complaints against the North. The fact that we went there particularly so soon after my withdrawal from the Ad Hoc Constitutional Committee, which I observed was set up by the Federal Government to wage war against the East instead of trying to put things in check, must assure you that we are resolved to find a solution to this. You have also spoken about Lagos or anywhere in the West as unsafe for the Easterners to hold a meeting. Nobody can tell when life will be lost, but I think, speaking the minds of entire people of Western Nigeria and Mid-Western Nigeria, that if anybody can at this stage take the life of an Ibo man or an Easterner, or if any outstanding Eastern loses his life by the act of someone else, the whole of the Western Region and the Mid-Western Region will take it as the end of Nigeria. I can give that assurance on behalf of Western Nigeria and Lagos."

[End of all the Awo-Ojukwu quotations in the excerpt - Mr. Lanre's Banjo continues:]

This meeting was concluded on Sunday, 7th of May at about 2.15 pm with the hope to reconvene and with the Ikemba maintaining that the South must first meet. Before I go further, it would be noted that the Ikemba's view was maintained due to hindsight (sic: LACK OF FORESIGHT). First, Papa has just been released from prison for a charge of treasonable felony. Secondly, he was in Enugu representing the Nigerian National Conciliation Committee,  How could Ikemba expect him to chage and focus on Southern plan of pulling out of Nigeria ? Papa was more principled than that. Even prior to his meeting with the Ikemba, he had been falsely accused of having teamed up with the Ikemba in his campaign against the Federal Military Government by being in regular touch with him by phone calls and personal visits to Enugu, to perfect their joint plans. That he had been sending Professor Aluko and others to Enugu for illegal guerrilla training. Given this situation, a sudden change to discuss how the South will unite against the North will definitely confirm the dreadful and blatant accusations already levelled against him,

[STUFF DELETED]

------------------------ End of Excerpt ---------------------------------
END OF MY JUNE 19, 1995 POSTING

Now, Back to Page 78 of Saro-Wiwa:
"It cannot be believed that the [AWOLOWO'S ENUGU] delegation was expected to achieve much. They probably obtained certain promiese from Ojukwu, for they returned to Lagos with proposals which were said to have been agreed by Ojukwu. The Federal Government was to lift the economic blockade placed on the Eastern Region in some respects, a gesture which Ojukwu would reciprocate by abrogating some of the laws he had passed confiscating certain properties and assets of the Federal Government. Gowon, acting in good faith, immediately accepted the proposals and began to implement them. But Ojukwu had no intention of accepting any proposals whatsoever, except that which was by now uppermost in his mind: secession. He was considerably encouraged by a statement made by Chief Awolowo [IN IBADAN ON MAY 1, 1967] which has remained controversial ever since. Chief Awolowo had said that "If the Eastern Region is allowed by acts of omission or commission to secede from or opt ouf of Nigeria, then the Western Region and Lagos must also stay out of the Federation." The Ibo leadership immediately interpreted Awolowo's statement to mean that if Eastern Nigeria seceded, the West would follow suit. They may have been encouraged in that interpretation as much by the erratic parts of Awolowo's speech [SEE NOTE 6] wherein he called for a peaceful solution to the problem and trenchantly opposed any war against the rest by the "North", as by the fact that only a short while before, the Yoruba West had called for the removal of "northern" troops from the Western Region. The Government of the West had subsequently banned the "Morning Post", as Ojukwu had done earlier. The Federal Government had not been able to make its authority felt in either of these cases. Indeed, by the end of the month, it had accepted publicly to withdraw non-Yoruba troops from the West."

Note 3a An addition in Saro-Wiwa's book
In Saro-Wiwa's "On A Darkling Plain, " version of this same portion of the conversation, an addition at this very point is:

"It is not my intention to unleash the destruction which my army can unleash. It is not my intention to fight until I am attacked. If I am attacked, I will take good care of the aggressor."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speech by Chief Obafemi Awolowo made to the Western leaders of thought, in Ibadan, 1 May 1967. (Culled from Daily Times, 2 May 1967) and quoted in "Crisis and Conflict in Nigeria (Volume 1), January 1966-July 1971" by A. H. M. Kirk-Greene.

Awolowo Promises West will secede if the East does
The aim of a leader should be the welfare of the people whom he leads. I have used 'welfare' to denote the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of the people. With this aim fixed unflinchingly and unchangeably before my eyes I consider it my duty to Yoruba people in particular and to Nigerians in general, to place four imperatives before you this morning. Two of them are categorical and two are conditional. Only a peaceful solution must be found to arrest the present worsening stalemate and restore normalcy. The Eastern Region must be encouraged to remain part of the Federation. If the Eastern Region is allowed by acts of omission or commission to secede from or opt out of Nigeria, then the Western Region and Lagos must also stay out of the Federation. The people of Western Nigeria and Lagos should participate in the ad hoc committee or any similar body only on the basis of absolute equality with the other regions of the Federation.

I would like to comment briefly on these four imperatives. There has, of late, been a good deal of sabre rattling in some parts of the country. Those who advocate the use force for the settlement of our present problems should stop a little and reflect. I can see no vital and abiding principle involved in any war between the North and the East. If the East attacked the North, it would be for purpose of revenge pure and simple. Any claim to the contrary would be untenable. If it is claimed that such a war is being waged for the purpose of recovering the real and personal properties left behind in the North by Easterners two insuperable points are obvious. Firstly, the personal effects left behind by Easterners have been wholly looted or destroyed, and can no longer be physically recovered. Secondly, since the real properties are immovable in case of recovery of them can only be by means of forcible military occupation of those parts of the North in which these properties are situated. On the other hand, if the North attacked the East, it could only be for the purpose of further strengthening and entrenching its position of dominance in the country.

If it is claimed that an attack on the East is going to be launched by the Federal Government and not by the North as such and that it is designed to ensure the unity and integrity of the Federation, two other insuperable points also become obvious. First, if a war against the East becomes a necessity it must be agreed to unanimously by the remaining units of the Federation. In this connection, the West, Mid- West and Lagos have declared their implacable opposition to the use of force in solving the present problem. In the face of such declarations by three out of remaining four territories of Nigeria, a war against the East could only be a war favoured by the North alone. Second, if the true purpose of such a war is to preserve the unity and integrity of the Federation, then these ends can be achieved by the very simple devices of implementing the recommendation of the committee which met on August 9 1966, as reaffirmed by a decision of the military leaders at Aburi on January 5 1967 as well as by accepting such of the demands of the East, West, Mid-West and Lagos as are manifestly reasonable, and essential for assuring harmonious relationships and peaceful co--existence between them and their brothers and sisters in the North.

Some knowledgeable persons have likened an attack on the East to Lincoln's war against the southern states in America. Two vital factors distinguish Lincoln's campaign from the one now being contemplated in Nigeria,  The first is that the American civil war was aimed at the abolition of slavery - that is the liberation of millions of Negroes who were then still being used as chattels and worse than domestic animals. The second factor is that Lincoln and others in the northern states were English-speaking people waging a war of good conscience and humanity against their fellow nationals who were also English speaking. A war against the East in which Northern soldiers are predominant, will only unite the Easterners or the Ibos against their attackers, strengthen them in their belief that they are not wanted by the majority of their fellow-Nigerians, and finally push them out of the Federation.

We have been told that an act of secession on the part of the East would be a signal, in the first instance, for the creation of the COR state by decree, which would be backed, if need be, by the use of force. With great respect, I have some dissenting observations to make on this declaration. There are 11 national or linguistic groups in the COR areas with a total population of 5.3 millions. These national groups are as distinct from one another as the Ibos are distinct from them or from the Yorubas or Hausas. Of the 11, the Efik/Ibibio/Annang national group are 3.2 million strong as against the Ijaws who are only about 700,000 strong. Ostensibly, the remaining nine national group number 1.4 millions. But when you have subtracted the Ibo inhabitants from among them, what is left ranges from the Ngennis who number only 8,000 to the Ogonis who are 220,000 strong. A decree creating a COR state without a plebiscite to ascertain the wishes of the peoples in the area, would only amount to subordinating the minority national groups in the state to the dominance of the Efik/Ibibio/Annang national group. It would be perfectly in order to create a Calabar state or a Rivers state by decree, and without a plebiscite. Each is a homogeneous national unit. But before you lump distinct and diverse national units together in one state, the consent of each of them is indispensable. Otherwise, the seed of social disquilibrium in the new state would have been sown.

On the other hand, if the COR State is created by decree after the Eastern Region shall have made its severance from Nigeria effective, we should then be waging an unjust war against a foreign state. It would be an unjust war, because the purpose of it would be to remove 10 minorities in the East from the dominance of the Ibos only to subordinate them to the dominance of the Efik/Ibibio/Annang national group. I think I have said enough to demonstrate that any war against the East, or vice versa, on any count whatsoever, would be an unholy crusade, for which it would be most unjustifiable to shed a drop of Nigerian blood. Therefore, only a peaceful solution must be found, and quickly too to arrest the present rapidly deteriorating stalemate and restore normalcy.

With regard to the second categorical imperative, it is my considered view that whilst some of the demands of the East are excessive within the context of a Nigerian union, most of such demands are not only wellfounded, but are designed for smooth and steady association amongst the various national units of Nigeria.

The dependence of the Federal Government on financial contributions from the regions? These and other such like demands I do not support. Demands such as these, if accepted, will lead surely to the complete disintegration of the Federation which is not in the interest of our people. But I wholeheartedly support the following demands among others, which we consider reasonable and most of which are already embodied in our memoranda to the Ad Hoc Committee,

That revenue should be allocated strictly on the basis of derivation; that is to say after the Federal Government has deducted its own share for its own services the rest should be allocated to the regions to which they are attributable.

That the existing public debt of the Federation should become the responsibility of the regions on the basis of the location of the projects in respect of each debt whether internal or external.

That each region should have and control its own militia and police force.

That, with immediate effect, all military personnel should be posted to their regions of origin,

If we are to live in harmony one with another as Nigerians it is imperative that these demands and others which are not related, should be met without further delay by those who have hitherto resisted them. To those who may argue that the acceptance of these demands will amount to transforming Nigeria into a federation with a weak central government, my comment is that any link however tenuous, which keeps the East in the Nigerian union, is better in my view than no link at all.

Before the Western delegates went to Lagos to attend the meetings of the ad hoc committee, they were given a clear mandate that if any region should opt out of the Federation of Nigeria, then the Federation should be considered to be at an end, and that the Western Region and Lagos should also opt out of it. It would then be up to Western Nigeria and Lagos as an independent sovereign state to enter into association with any of the Nigerian units of its own choosing, and on terms mutually acceptable to them. I see no reason for departing from this mandate. If any region in Nigeria considers itself strong enough to compel us to enter into association with it on its own terms, I would only wish such a region luck. But such luck, I must warn, will, in the long run be no better than that which has attended the doings of all colonial powers down the ages. This much I must say in addition, on this point. We have neither military might nor the overwhelming advantage of numbers here in Western Nigeria and Lagos. But we have justice of a noble and imperishable cause on our side, namely: the right of a people to unfettered self-determination. If this is so, then God is on our side, and if God is with us then we have nothing whatsoever in this world to fear.

The fourth imperative, and the second conditional one has been fully dealt with in my recent letter to the Military Governor of Western Nigeria, Col. Robert Adebayo, and in the representation which your deputation made last year to the head of the Federal Military Government, Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon. As a matter of fact, as far back as November last year a smaller meeting of leaders of thought in this Region decided that unless certain things were done, we would no longer participate in the meeting of the ad hoc committee. But since then, not even one of our legitimate requests has been granted. I will, therefore, take no more of your time in making further comments on a point with which you are well familiar. As soon as our humble and earnest requests are met, I shall be ready to take my place on the ad hoc committee. But certainly, not before.

In closing, I have this piece of advice to give. In order to resolve amiably and in the best interests of all Nigerians certain attributes are required on the part of Nigerian leaders, military as well as non-military leaders alike, namely: vision, realism and unselfishness. But above all , what will keep Nigerian leaders in the North and East unwaveringly in the path of wisdom, realism and moderation is courage and steadfastness on the part of Yoruba people in the course of what they sincerely believe to be right, equitable and just. In the past five years we in the West and Lagos have shown that we possess these qualities in a large measure. If we demonstrate them again as we did in the past, calmly and heroically, we will save Nigeria from further bloodshed and imminent wreck and, at the same time, preserve our freedom and self-respect into the bargain.

May God rule and guide our deliberations here, and endow all the Nigerian leaders with the vision, realism, and unselfishness as well as courage and steadfastness in the course of truth, which the present circumstances demand. "




KEEP READING!!!  
IT IS TOO LONG FOR ME TO HIGHLIGHT EVERYTHING BUT I HAVE READ THE WHOLE THING BEFORE . . .

adejoro75:

You can call him a coward (your prerogative), but he was foresighted in wanting to break away from Nigeria
The same (foresightedness) cannot be said about Zik, Awo, Enahoro, Ironsi, Gowon, Obasanjo who at one time or another, under circumstances that benefited them, worked to keep Nigeria one.

he wanted to break away from nigeria because he was simply greedy.  gowon initiated a move to replace the 4 legislatures of nigeria with 12 states. 3 of them in the east. the provision was meant to break up the northern region, undermining the possibility of continued northern domination but ojukwu greedily feared that gowon desired to divide the igbo into new smaller states, and this deprive the igbos of their control over the oil fields and access to the sea.

situation deteriorated, ojukwu's attempt at secession produced biafra. . . .gowon retaliated by declaring a state of emergency. gowon's federal military govt of nigeria declared war on biafra. the civil war lasted 3 yrs and left behind 3 million dead and established biafra as a by word for famine and mass destruction. appeals after appeals were made by oau to stop the war. ojukwu insisted it was a fight to the finish only for him to flee the country sought refuge in ivory coast.

ojukwu is a bloody coward!!!!!

Even Akinrinade who was one of the top generals then has since regretted fighting the war to keep Nigeria one.

you have clearly misunderstood what he said. he didn't regret fighting that particular war. . . . .he had regrets that the nigeria he once fought for has now degenerated into car bomb explosions everyday by the boko harams and mend.

Justcash:

[b]Who forced the North and West to follow the East, going by your analogy. How could  the wish of Zik alone have defeated the opposition of Awolowo and Balewa? You mean Zik charmed them or what? Did he bully them.

Ok, let us assume that Zik bullied Awo and Balewa into agreeing to exist in one country, why then was it so difficult to Awo and Balewa to actualize their wishes of going towards their own paths when it was obvious that the path was to dangerious and in fact  futile? Instead, they preferred to continue to move on that same path without plans to move to a safer and more progressive path.

So, if among the three travellers, one of them saw that the journey was actually leading them nowhere, and decides to go back home, the other two should force him to continue to march with them to nowhere, because they have sold their properties? Now, after marching for 50 years to nowhere, one of the men that forced the man to stay also wants out. No be Ogun go strike una?

In fact, that is not a good answer to my question.

WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES THE NORTH TO TREMBLE EACH TIME THEY HEAR THAT THE EAST WANTS TO LEAVE?[/b]

Dude relax,

The three were given an option and they a majority had to agree. Awo voted for self-autonomy for the West. Bello said no because he felt that the North wasn't prepared for Independence. Zik stated that the East would wait for the North to be ready. So 2-1 in favour of Nigeria

If Zik voted for self-autonomy for the East, then it would have been 2-1 in favour of three separate countries. Why do you think Zik aligned with the North in 1959 to form a coalition?

naijaking1:

Zik was not tribalist because he gave a speech praising an eastern football club in Lagos, it was just sports, and that didn't mean you shouldn't support a home team. I never heard of a politician being accused of tribalism because of his euphoric support for a home team except here on N/L.

I know this was meant for me!
Anyway, I never called Azikwe a tribalist. I said he had a soft spot for the Igbo.

faoni572:

Thanks for saying the truth.

Thanks!

coogar:

the truth and nothing but the truth. . . . . . .if anyone is to be blamed, it should be azikwe and the ikemba himself.

Thank you!!!

Anyone who thinks Zik was a tribalist should have their head examined. And I mean that.

He was naive, he was a pan-Africanist, but he was never a tribalist.

Justcash:

Awolowo; For not sticking to his plan to secede with the west. For playing too much of ethnic politics.

Justcash, what did you expect him to do??
The North or Igbos did not vote for him to be their leader. He was the Yoruba leader not Igbo or Hausa or Nigeria. He simply had to leader the people that voted for him to be their leader. Its like how some people blame Bello, I mean, these guys are regional leaders NOT national leaders. We had regional governments NOT a unitary government.

coogar:

he wanted to break away from nigeria because he was simply greedy.  gowon initiated a move to replace the 4 legislatures of nigeria with 12 states. 3 of them in the east. the provision was meant to break up the northern region, undermining the possibility of continued northern domination but ojukwu greedily feared that gowon desired to divide the igbo into new smaller states, and this deprive the igbos of their control over the oil fields and access to the sea.

situation deteriorated, ojukwu's attempt at secession produced biafra. . . .gowon retaliated by declaring a state of emergency. gowon's federal military govt of nigeria declared war on biafra. the civil war lasted 3 yrs and left behind 3 million dead and established biafra as a by word for famine and mass destruction. appeals after appeals were made by oau to stop the war. ojukwu insisted it was a fight to the finish only for him to flee the country sought refuge in ivory coast.

ojukwu is a bloody coward!!!!!

you have clearly misunderstood what he said. he didn't regret fighting that particular war. . . . .he had regrets that the nigeria he once fought for has now degenerated into car bomb explosions everyday by the boko harams and mend.

Was Ojukwu more foresighted than the rest people I listed? Clearly yes. Thanks, and the rest of your rants are nothing but rants. The Govt of Eastern Nigeria sat and agreed that Ojukwu should secede. That decision was not a one-man show.

Katsumoto:

Dude relax,

The three were given an option and they a majority had to agree. Awo voted for self-autonomy for the West. Bello said no because he felt that the North wasn't prepared for Independence. Zik stated that the East would wait for the North to be ready. So 2-1 in favour of Nigeria

If Zik voted for self-autonomy for the East, then it would have been 2-1 in favour of three separate countries. Why do you think Zik aligned with the North in 1959 to form a coalition?

[b]From what you said above, THE NORTH NEEDED THE EAST AND WEST MORE.

Like I said before, N. Azikiwe was more nationalistic, and did not represent the interest of Igbos. Let us assume that he did represent the wishes of Igbos, how then does your statement above mean that the East held the North and West from going their own ways?

Does waiting for the North mean that the North must not leave? Did Zik tell Balewa to stay or die?

Awolowo wanted the West to go, why didn't he grab the opportunity when it presented itself? Or was he already in love with Nigeria when the opportunity came?

The North felt betrayed by the East after the first coup. Why didn't they simply let their perceived enemies (the east) to go their own way, especially as the East was willing to go and they had revenged with a bloody pogrom?

Why did the North prefer to fight than let the East to go for them to live peacefully under sharia and Islamic rule?

Why was the North so particular about CATCHING UP? Who did they want to catch up with?

Ok, let's say they wanted to catch up with the East, why then did BOKO HARAM come up just when the North was about catching up?[/b]

adejoro75:

Was more more foresighted than the rest people I listed? Clearly yes. Thanks, and the rest of your rants are nothing but rants. The Govt of Eastern Nigeria sat and agreed that Ojukwu should secede. That decision was not a one-man show.

what do you mean by foresight? foresight is leading 3 million people to death and achieving nothing with it? you are a goat!

coogar:

the truth and nothing but the truth. . . . . . .if anyone is to be blamed, it should be azikwe and the ikemba himself.

You can blame ojukwu, but don't blame zik.

coogar:

what do you mean by foresight? foresight is leading 3 million people to death and achieving nothing with it? you are a goat!

not necessary

Justcash:


Is that not enough evidence to show that the pursuit of a unitary system was futile and the dreams of Azikiwe was completely impossible?

We had more regional leaders, why then was there so much fuss about coexisting against all odds?

If you had taken you time to read my reply,I can bet you would not have asked this question.
In short, dream or no dream, the North are ENJOYING Nigeria and they do not want out. While the West got what they always wanted (NOTHING MORE), a control of their developmental and political destiny . . .

jason123:




My dear Victor,


(vii) During the period of Biafrans troops’ presence in your territory, all political measures, statements or decrees shall be subject to the approval, in writing by myself or on my authority.

Lmfao.

I'm sure by the time Yoruba Leaders got to this part of Ojukwu's bush rambling, they were all over the floor laughing like 7yr old kids.

jason123:

not necessary

i get irked when anyone justifies the killing of innocent souls. . . .

if what i understand by his "foresight" is fighting the northern oppression, then aguyi ironsi also had foresight(1966) and before then the yorubas(1962) when they strongly objected to the shape and location of both the western region and the newly formed mid-west region because it split their people into different regional governments.

Justcash:

[b]From what you said above, THE NORTH NEEDED THE EAST AND WEST MORE.

Like I said before, N. Azikiwe was more nationalistic, and did not represent the interest of Igbos. Let us assume that he did represent the wishes of Igbos, how then does your statement above mean that the East held the North and West from going their own ways?

Does waiting for the North mean that the North must not leave? Did Zik tell Balewa to stay or die?

Awolowo wanted the West to go, why didn't he grab the opportunity when it presented itself? Or was he already in love with Nigeria when the opportunity came?

The North felt betrayed by the East after the first coup. Why didn't they simply let their perceived enemies (the east) to go their own way, especially as the East was willing to go and they had revenged with a bloody pogrom?

Why did the North prefer to fight than let the East to go for them to live peacefully under sharia and Islamic rule?

Why was the North so particular about CATCHING UP? Who did they want to catch up with?

Ok, let's say they wanted to catch up with the East, why then did BOKO HARAM come up just when the North was about catching up?[/b]

Stop arguing like a fo*ol. I've been watching this whole back and forth, and more and more you seem intent on proving yourself the id*iot we already know u r. You lost the argument, man up, take it on the chin and keep it moving; nobody cleans dirt with mud.

Youre no longer making any sense (not like you were making any in the first place), cus I wonder why you would be asking Katsumoto all these question like u've ever seen him promote Northern interests.